The United States Supreme Court (USSC) announced today that it will hear two cases dealing with constitutional challenges to state and federal laws that undermine same-sex marriage. The first case, Hollingsworth v Perry, No. 12-144, concerns a constitutional challenge to California’s Proposition 8, a controversial ballot proposition that amended California’s constitution to ban same-sex marriage […]
Background Mohamed Harkat is a former gas station attendant, pizza delivery driver, and for the past decade, a suspected terrorist. Harkat was arrested on December 10, 2002 on a national security certificate alleging that he had ties with terrorists. Since 2006, Harkat has been required to wear an electronic tracking device, be in the presence […]
In a decision released on November 27, 2012, the British Columbia Court of Appeal ("BCCA") in Pratten v British Columbia, 2012 BCCA 480, reversed the British Columbia Supreme Court’s ("BCSC") decision that provisions of the provincial Adoption Act, RSBC 1996, c 5 [Adoption Act] are unconstitutional as a result of their failure to take into […]
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) declined to hear an appeal regarding the City of Toronto's billboard tax. The tax was enacted in 2010 and is directed at “third party signs”, fixed exterior signs that advertise goods or services not available at the premises where the sign is located. Pattison Outdoor Advertising (Pattison) and Out-of-Home […]
It is safe to assume that New York tort law was not on the minds of the Hezbollah teams that launched rockets into Israel in the 2006 Lebanon War. However, the victims responded to these acts by taking Hezbollah’s bank to court in New York and launching a legal battle that has stretched the scope […]
On the same day that Canada implemented harsher penalties for marijuana possession through the Safe Streets and Communities Act, two U.S. states voted in favour of legalizing the drug. A majority of voters in Washington and Colorado approved initiatives on November 6th, 2012 allowing for personal use and regulation of marijuana for adults 21 and […]
At 10:00 AM this morning, Justice Hackland's released his reasons for decision in Magder v Ford, the much anticipated application to have Mayor Ford removed from officer pursuant to the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act. The application was brought by a municipal voter, Paul Magder, who was represented by the prominent Toronto lawyer Clayton Ruby.
The parties were married and lived in a home owned by the Spencer Family Realty Trust (“SFRT”), a discretionary trust of which Spencer was a beneficiary and trustee. When the couple separated it became necessary to determine the nature of Spencer’s interest in the home for purposes of the division of property under the Family Law […]
LSUC Approves New Licensing Opportunity On November 22, the Law Society of Upper Canada, which governs the legal profession in Ontario (including the licensing of lawyers), approved a three-year pilot project that will allow candidates to complete an outsourced “Law Practice Program” (LPP) instead of the traditional 10-month articling program.
Protection against self-incrimination is one of the fundamental principles of the criminal justice system. You are probably familiar with the phrase, “pleading the fifth,” which refers to the Fifth Amendment in the American Constitution and provides testimonial immunity for an accused individual. There is no equivalent to the Fifth Amendment in Canada; however, a witness […]